Previously, many types of coffee brewing apparatus have been developed for use in brewing coffee for commercial establishments. As part of the peripheral equipment required to brew coffee it is customary to place coffee grounds in a porous filter which is held in place by some type of retainer. The typical retainer is a brew cone in the shape of the filter having a small hole in the bottom to drain the coffee after it is brewed.
Prior art in the past has used a thermoplastic brew cone with a flat flange on the top which is held slideably in place with some type of mechanical appurtenance which is usually a part of the brewer itself.
A search of the prior art did not disclose any patents that read directly on the claims of the instant invention, however the following U.S. patents are considered related:
U.S. Pat. No. Inventor Issue Date 5,875,703 Rolfes Mar. 2, 1999 5,836,236 Rolfes et al. Nov. 17, 1998 5,404,794 Patel et al. Apr. 11, 1995 5,063,836 Patel Nov. 12, 1991
Rolfes own U.S. Pat. No. 5,875,703 teaches an improvement on a coffee brewer and hot water dispenser which permits larger capacity by the use of a bypass hot water cycle adding a predetermined volume of water to the container and supplementing the control by expanding its capabilities using multiple sequencing of the brew cycle for increasing the volume of brewed coffee. The spray head holder is identical to that described in Rolfes patent No. 5,836,236 and no mention is made of any change in configuration.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,836,236 issued to Rolfes et al., in which the first named inventor is the present inventor, discloses a coffee brewer and hot water dispenser which brews both coffee and also dispensed hot water from a separate system. The enclosure includes a spray head holder that has a channel shaped edge on each side that holds the brew cone in place by gravity and the configuration of the edges permit the flange of the cone to slip in and out easily with no tension at all on the interface.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,404,794 of Patel et al. discloses a coffee making machine having a reservoir connected to an external water supply via a valve which divides the water into separate hot and cold water tanks. Heated water from a boiler is fed into an expansion chamber and then discharged into the ground coffee through a spray head at the end of an expansion chamber. The enclosure is made of a pair of laterally spaced rectangular arms forming a base with a column located at one end which basically houses most of the operating parts of the coffee-making machine. Nothing specific is taught about the mounting of the brew cone however the cone is illustrated in the drawings as being located just under the enclosure's outwardly extending top.
Patel in U.S. Pat. No. 5,063,836 teaches a coffee making machine of the type adapted to be connected to city water supply. The device includes a reservoir having a level sensor controlling a water refill valve to the reservoir and a heating element which heats the water therein. A level sensor functions to permit automatic refill of the reservoir at the appropriate level for subsequent brewing of a full pot of coffee irrespective of the water pressure and the previous route of the water. A solid state circuit board controls the operational sequence and functions of the machine. The device includes a base with a warming plate on which a coffee pot may rest and columns upon which most of the operating components are mounted. There is little if any taught about the method of attaching the brew cone however in viewing the product protected by this patent the cone is retained in a conventional manner using lips on each side to hold the brew cone in place.